President Trump said Thursday he thinks China can help to end the Russia-Ukraine war because of Beijing’s economic influence over Moscow.
“Russia supplies a lot of energy to China. China pays them a lot of money for that, and I think they have a lot of power over Russia,” Mr. Trump told reporters Thursday.
“I think from what I hear, [Russian President Vladimir] Putin would like to see me, meet as soon as we can. I’d meet immediately,” the president said. “Every day we don’t meet, soldiers are being killed in a battlefield and that battlefield is like no battlefield since World War II.”
“It’d be nice to end that war,” he said. “It’s a ridiculous war.”
He said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is “ready to negotiate a deal, they’d like to stop.”
Before the election, Mr. Trump repeatedly said he could end the war on Day One of his administration, but he has backed off a specific timetable.
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.
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